March 17, 2010 CWD Found in Southwestern North Dakota Deer North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials were notified this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Services that a sick-looking mule deer taken last fall in western Sioux County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. This is the first time CWD has been detected in a North Dakota animal.

Dr. Dan Grove, Game and Fish Department wildlife veterinarian, said a hunter in unit 3F2 shot an adult buck that did not appear to be healthy. “As we do with our targeted surveillance efforts, we collected the sample to test for CWD and bovine tuberculosis,” Grove said.

The Game and Fish Department’s targeted surveillance program is an ongoing, year-round effort that tests animals found dead or sick.

“We have been constantly monitoring and enhancing our surveillance efforts for CWD because of its presence in bordering states and provinces,” said Greg Link, Game and Fish Department assistant wildlife division chief.

In addition to targeted surveillance, the department annually collects samples taken from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In January, more than 3,000 targeted and hunter-harvested samples were sent to a lab in Minnesota. As of today, about two-thirds of the samples have been tested, with the one positive result. The remaining one-third will be tested over the next month.

Link said monitoring efforts have intensified in recent years and all units have been completed twice throughout the entire state.

“The deer population in unit 3F2 is above management goals, and hunter pressure will continue to be put on the population in that unit again this fall,” Link said. “We are going to be aggressive with licenses and disease surveillance in that unit.”

Since the department’s sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 14,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.

CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.

AS far as human transmission for CWD, you will just have to make your own minds up on that. In my opinion, there is as much evidence for transmission of cwd to humans, as there is for scrapie and BSE to humans. it's the friendly fire there from i.e. cwd exposure that concerns me the most, but the did not recall all this cwd positive elk meat FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE DEAD ELK ;

The foodborne transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans, resulting in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, indicates that humans can be susceptible to animal prion diseases. However, it is not known whether foodborne exposure to the agent causing chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids can cause human disease. The United States Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) conducts surveillance for foodborne diseases through an extensive survey administered to respondents in selected states. To describe the frequency of deer and elk hunting and venison consumption, five questions were included in the 2006-2007 FoodNet survey. This survey included 17,372 respondents in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. Of these respondents, 3,220 (18.5%) reported ever hunting deer or elk, with 217 (1.3%) reporting hunting in a CWD-endemic area (northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, and southwestern Nebraska). Of the 217 CWD-endemic area hunters, 74 (34.1%) were residents of Colorado. Respondents reporting hunting were significantly more likely to be male than female (prevalence ratio: 3.3, 95% confidence interval: 3.1-3.6) and, in general, older respondents were significantly more likely to report hunting than younger respondents. Venison consumption was reported by more than half (67.4%) of the study population, and most venison consumers (94.1%) reported that at least half of their venison came from the wild. However, more than half (59.1%) of the consumers reported eating venison only one to five times in their life or only once or twice a year. These findings indicate that a high percentage of the United States population engages in hunting and/or venison consumption. If CWD continues to spread to more areas across the country, a substantial number of people could potentially be exposed to the infectious agent.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to translocation or natural migration of animals may account for some new foci of infection. Increasing spread of CWD has raised concerns about the potential for increasing human exposure to the CWD agent. The foodborne transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans indicates that the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases. Conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions has been demonstrated in an in vitro cell-free experiment, but limited investigations have not identified strong evidence for CWD transmission to humans. More epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions.

The transmission of the prion disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to humans raises concern about chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease of deer and elk. In 7 Colorado counties with high CWD prevalence, 75% of state hunting licenses are issued locally, which suggests that residents consume most regionally harvested game. We used Colorado death certificate data from 1979 through 2001 to evaluate rates of death from the human prion disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The relative risk (RR) of CJD for CWD-endemic county residents was not significantly increased (RR 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-1.63), and the rate of CJD did not increase over time (5-year RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.73-1.16). In Colorado, human prion disease resulting from CWD exposure is rare or nonexistent. However, given uncertainties about the incubation period, exposure, and clinical presentation, the possibility that the CWD agent might cause human disease cannot be eliminated.

3. Prof. A Robertson gave a brief account of BSE. The US approach was to accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr. A Thiermann showed the picture in the ''Independent'' with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs. BSE was not reported in the USA.

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CWD occurred principally in two locations, this one at Sybille and in a similar faccility at Fort Collins, Colorado, some 120 miles southwest. It was estimated that in total probably 60-70 cases of CWD have occurred.

It was difficult to gain a clear account of incidence and temporal sequence of events (-this presumably is data awaiting publication - see below) but during the period 1981-1984, 10-15 cases occurred at the Sybille facility.

The moribidity amongst mule deer in the facilities ie. those of the natural potentially exposed group has been about 90% with 100% mortality.

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Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD. The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr. Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had previously been occupied by sheep.

Hunting can be slow and frustrating if Mother Nature throws a warm hunting season at you. But things can take a drastic turn for the better with the onset of a cold snap. Whether you get snow or just a good, prolonged cold front, the hunting can improve on a dime. But cold whether can also make certain parts of the hunt more tedious. Here are some things to keep in mind when your prayers for cold weather finally pay off.
You can see a your quarry's breath when it is cold outside...